Warner To Retire At End Of Semester

After 40 years in the education field, 30 of which were
spent at SHSU, Laverne Warner, coordinator and professor
of early
childhood education, will retire at the end of May.

A retirement reception, hosted by the department of language,
literacy and special populations, will be held May 6, in
the Lowman Student Center from 4-6 p.m. Former students and
colleagues
across campus are invited to attend.

Warner, who taught in Texas, Vermont and Indiana, received
her doctorate in early childhood education from East Texas
State University in Commerce, Texas, in 1977.

Among her contributions to SHSU are becoming the first woman
president of the SHSU Phi Delta Kappa Chapter; working with
Michele Hewlett-Gomez on a department of education grant
for bilingual education from 1991 to 1994; serving as counselor
of the SHSU Delta Theta Chapter of Kappa Delta Pi for 20
years;
winning SHSU’s Excellence in Teaching Award in 1992;
and assisting the SHSU Texas Student Education Association
win three statewide awards as “Best Chapter.”

Other professional achievements include winning the “Outstanding
Teacher Educator Award” from the Texas Association
for the Education of Young Children in 1992; teaching at
the University
of Baku in Baku, Azerbaijan, for two weeks in August, 1996;
writing six teacher resource books, with colleagues, and
one textbook in the field of early education, with one more
in
press; and writing approximately 100 articles in state, regional,
national and international publications through the years,
among many others.

In her retirement, Warner will continue to teach on the university’s
half-time plan beginning in the fall 2005 semester.

Other retirement plans include writing at least three more
books; spending quality time with family, especially her
mother and her sister; and traveling when she can afford
it, she said.

“
Thanks to everyone at SHSU for making each of my years here
memorable,” Warner said. “I’ll miss you,
but I won’t be far away. Go, Kats! Eat ‘em up!”

Grant Helps Female Students Attend Conferences

A $2,000
grant recently received by Jacqueline Jensen, assistant professor
of mathematics, will allow female math students
to participate in regional and national
conferences.

The grant from the Mathematical Association of America was given for a program
called “Introducing Women To The Mathematics Community,” which
directly allows female undergraduate and graduate students to attend the conferences
by
giving the university travel money, according to Jensen.

“
We just had so many students who were interested in doing these projects that
it got too hard to fund internally and through fundraisers; it just kind of grew
faster than our fundraising abilities,” she said. “So we just started
asking for money, and people started giving it to us.”

More specifically, the money will be used to fund travel to the two “big” conferences, “Math
Fest,” the national conference for the Mathematical Association of America,
which is “one of the two big math associations in the country,” and
the Texas section of the MAA, the regional version of the national conference,
Jensen said.

“
The conferences have a lot of chances for students to present research and a
lot of student-oriented talks,” Jensen said. “One of the interesting
things about this is that our students don’t get any course credit for
doing these projects. They’re all doing research, and they’re doing
it for no credit, no honors credit, no courses, no anything.”

Because of SHSU’s strong education program, Jensen said a large number
of the department’s math students are female and go on to be secondary
math teachers.

“
We are rather remarkable in that if you walk into one of our upper-level courses,
there’s actually a lot of women in the course, and sometimes the guys are
outnumbered, which is really unusual for math programs,” she said.

Though this grant is just for females, the male math students have not been
left out. College of Arts and Sciences dean Brian Chapman agreed to match the
MAA
funding to allow male students to attend the two conferences as well.

MISS To
Recognize Graduates, Scholastic Achievement

Students from underrepresented
populations who are graduating this May or have shown outstanding
academic achievement will be honored at the “Multicultural
Scholars and Graduate Ceremony,” sponsored by the Office of Multicultural
and International Student Services on May 10.

The event, which will be followed with refreshments, will be held at 7
p.m. in the Lowman Student Center Ballroom.

“
We would like to commemorate the efforts of scholars from underrepresented populations
because it’s not an easy journey for them,” said MISS coordinator
Jennifer T. Roberts. “So this is just to show them that Sam Houston
appreciates them, and they do have a support group here.”

Along with graduating seniors, minority students who have earned a 3.0
grade point average or better will be recognized with a certificate and
a lapel
pin, Roberts said.

Bernice Strauss, Student Advising and Mentoring Center director of academic
support programs, will be the guest speaker at the third annual event.

“
Last semester, we had over 200 attend,” Roberts said, “and we’re
expecting 200 with guests this time.”

Music To Host Guitar, Choir And Orchestra
Concerts

The SHSU choir and orchestra, as well as guitar students,
are scheduled to perform this week as the School of Music
begins winding down for the
semester.

On Thursday (April 21), guitar instructor Gerald Blakeman and students
will perform a variety of works, ranging from early classical compositions
to
modern jazz
works, for a Guitar Ensemble, at 7:30 p.m. in the Recital Hall.

On Saturday, the choirs and orchestra will join the Cypress Creek Community
Chorale at the Centrum in Spring, Texas, to perform “Elijah,” Felix
Mendelssohn's popular oratorio for soloists, orchestra and chorus.
The concert will be held
at 7:30 p.m.

Music professor Christopher Michel will sing the role of the prophet
Elijah, with choral and vocal studies director Allen Hightower conducting.

The concert will take place at the Cypress Creek Christian Church,
at 6823 Cypresswood Drive, near Interstate 45 South. Admission is free.

Texas
Hold’Em
Comes To A Draw With Final Tournament

The cards have been laid down,
and winners from this year’s, as well as
last year’s Texas Hold’em tournaments will now compete
in the Kat Klub’s “tournament of champions” Wednesday
and Thursday (April 20-21).

“ This year has been wonderful,” said Kat Klub director Gary Roark. “The
kids really have a good time. My whole room in the back is full
of kids enjoying themselves (every tournament).”

Those who have won a tournament, either this year or in 2004, and would like
to participate in the tournament of champions should attend a
meeting on Wednesday at 5 p.m. The tournament is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.

The tournament will be broadcast on Cable Channel 7, Roark said, adding
that he doesn’t know how many will participate due to students
graduating.

Tournament entry is free, but is limited to previous Texas Hold’Em winners.
The winner of the champions’ tournament will receive a gold
bracelet.

SAM
Center To Answer Grad School Questions

The Student Advising
and Mentoring Center will host a graduate school information
night on Monday (April 18), from noon
to 1 p.m. The event
will be held
in the SAM Center, in Academic Building 4 Room 213.

Representatives from financial aid, the SAM Center and various
other departments will be present to answer students’ questions
and provide information on applying for graduate school,
the graduate school
timeline and academic
requirements.

For more information, contact the Gerri at 936.294.4444 or
e-mail at stdgaj14@shsu.edu.